Tokenism at the Top: How Existing Ethnic Diversity Influences Entrances to Top Management Teams

Abstract

Many firms express interest in increasing ethnic diversity but top management teams (TMTs) remain considerably less ethnically diverse than other employees and the general public. Drawing from theories of diversity and tokenism, we generate and test predictions about how representation of a given ethnic group on a TMT influences the likelihood that the TMT adds a member of the same ethnic group. Supporting a tokenism account of diversity on TMTs, results provide consistent evidence across ethnic groups that representation associates negatively with subsequent additions of members of the same ethnic group. Similarly, the departure of a member of a given ethnic group from a TMT increases the likelihood of appointing someone from that ethnic group. Although we did not offer hypotheses concerning the influence of CEO ethnicity, our results suggest that the ethnicity of the CEO increases the likelihood of adding another individual of that ethnicity.